Best of Kickstarter, 10/3

We scoured the pages of Kickstarter to bring you this week’s best projects. Have a great Kickstarter project of your own or see one you think deserves some extra attention? Let us know about it the comments and we may just feature it in our weekly roundup.

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Typographic Wall Calendar: I’m a sucker for interesting office paraphernalia, so when I saw that German typographers Harald Geisler and Elizabeth Waterhouse created a 30″ x 40″ wall calendar from 2,012 used keyboard keys, my heart went all a-flutter. Reading from left to right, each row of the calendar spells out the month and the day of the week, as in “January Sun 01 Mon 02 Tues 03″ and so on. Apparently, the 2011 calendar was funded via Kickstarter last year, but Harald and Elizabeth need more funds to keep the project going. I really want one of these things over my desk, so consider donating, or who knows how many keyboards I’ll have to bust apart to make my own.

TECH

You3Dme.com: ”We wanted everyone to know being you is the cool thing to do for the holidays,” reads the opening of Shanon Tatum’s Kickstarter proposal. The holiday she’s referring to is Halloween, for which she created an exaggerated, 3-dimensional mask of her own face from 2-D photos. Jammed onto one’s noggin, the effect is rather bobble-head like, but also kind of surreal and amazing. The video (set, awesomely, to “Where’s Yo Head At,” by the Basement Jax) consists entirely of a man hopping around in his yard wearing a giant, blown-up version of his own face. Some clever rock band or director needs to use these things to make the most awesome music video/short film ever.

ARCHITECTURE

Sukkah Project: Casey Hughes Architects designed a super modern sukkah (a booth-like structure traditionally used during the Jewish festival of Sukkot) for use on Washington University’s campus. Depending on how the frames are arranged, the sukkah can be used as a performance space or a cozy meeting area, and it’s lightweight enough for the students to transform on their own. Religious purposes aside, I think it would make a nifty addition to public park spaces, assuming nobody decided to cart it off or live in it. The only trouble is that the Sukkot festival starts on October 12, so Hughes and his team need to get this thing built ASAP.

GAMES

Metropoli: Location technology really freaks me out, and I generally make a point of avoiding any app or social media device that uses it, but I have to admit this game sounds way fun. Metropoli, a new iPhone app proposed by Deanna McDonald, uses Four Square to make your city a living, moving board game, with you as the game piece. Basically, you download the app, and every player gets $100,000 in their bank account (realistic, no?) which they can use to “buy” property in the city. When any other player checks-in to stuff you own, they have to pay you rent. As you make more money, you can buy more desirable properties, like the Empire State Building or the Guggenheim. In essence, it’s an awesome way to waste time and stay broke.